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Italian band ilVolodiColin release debut EP ‘ilVolodiColin’

The minstrels of alternative rock known as ilVolodiColin have released their highly anticipated debut EP album, “ilVolodiColin.” Full of groove, verve and powerfully evocative songwriting, “ilVolodiColin” is easily the most intriguing alt-rock album to come from Italy in recent memory. [Official date of this publication, edited by the independent record label Music Room 05, is 31 May 2015.]

IlVolodiColin’s new EP contains five original tracks for an approximate total listening time of 20 minutes, making the EP the definitive ilVolodiColin collection to date. Widely varied yet consistent in terms of character, “ilVolodiColin” makes for a remarkably perfect introduction to this European alt-rock crew for fans of rock music in general around the globe.

ilVolodiColin cite as main artistic influences a broad selection of genius. These include, in the band’s own words: “Blues godfathers, Hendrix, the Beatles, the Doors, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Area, PFM, Battisti, Mina, Mogol, Tenco, Buscaglione, De Andrè… In other words rock, prog-rock and psychedelic-rock masters and some of the most poetical Italian authors and performers.”

Close readers will note the absence of the fundamental alt-rock players of the 1990s in this list, but the fact is that ilVolodiColin would have fit in nicely during that decade. Their sound recalls elements of Urge Overkill and Soul Asylum, having fat, juicy bass lines and an emphasis on creative chord progressions. Still, it is their deep prog-rock roots which often win out, such as in songs like “Dammi Qualche Idea” (“Give Me Some Ideas”) the album’s closing selection.

Also integral to the ilVolodiColin sound is a careful attention to lyric poetry and transcendental thought, a hint of which may be gleaned from their song titles.

Speaking of the themes of their debut EP, ilVolodiColin say:

“Our EP, which is also our first release, is based on the idea of a rebirth, a spiritual rebirth into a new realm which is intimate and extended – infinite. It’s not an escape from reality, but the reaching of a more conscious state of mind where material limits and inhibitions do not exist. It’s a shamanic journey, a purification, a gift you can take with you when you’re back to this world. We’d like that our songs could share with others the catharsis we feel while we play.”

Being proudly published on the Music Room 05 indie label, ilVolodiColin share many of the same principles. On at least one official website, Music Room 05 has been described online as promoting “mainly Italian music songwriting and related productions, with the goal to attract again the public’s attention towards genuine and original artistic expressions, closer to our ethnic culture and of more immediate and articulated perception both of the lyrical and the poetical aspects, not disregarding at the same time any wise experimentation with the international and the avant-garde resources.

“The spirit from which it rises is relentless, unleashed and anti-crisis. Our vision is wide-open, constant and positive!”

The mission statement closes with a quote from Thucydides, who notably said, “Who dares, wins.”

IlVolodiColin’s self-titled debut EP is available online worldwide beginning 31 May 2015. Alt-rock fans should definitely get in early.

About BothEyesShut

BothEyesShut is your friendly autodidact, at your service to amuse, enthuse, and offend you with a fresh, steady flow of original disinformation. He was born in Huntington Beach, CA and is currently writing his fifth novel. "In a Real World, This Would Be Happening" is his first return to non-fiction since his monthly column in Going Coastal magazine in 2001. He lives in Long Beach.